She Walks Right Through Me
by Katikinzz
Summary: Arnold has to cope with the loss of his girlfriend, Helga, but not everyone agrees with the ways that he goes about doing it.
1. Chapter 1

**I know the second paragraph is a bit weird. I am just going to explain it a bit. There are two sides of Helga, the outer bully side that is mean to everyone, and gives her a reason to fit in (she), and the sappy romantic inner Helga, that is only really given a reason to shine when Arnold is around (Helga). So I know it sounds kind of bad but there is a difference and I wanted to clear that up. :)**

PROLOGUE

The two of them were best friends. Well, not at first. At first, she loved him but he didn't even like her. Then as time changed she told him what she really thought of him. He was shocked to say the least. For five years she had been nothing but mean to him. She called him many names, threw/spit things at him when he wasn't looking, and just wasn't all that kind to him under any circumstances. He didn't think she was as mean as she said she was. On many occasions, he even admitted that to her, but he knew it wasn't enough to make her stop. He was trying to save his neighborhood from her father. She knew that if his neighborhood was destroyed, he would never see her again. Since she didn't want him to leave she tried to help him out under a secret identity. When he cornered her and found out who she was, she had no other option but to tell him why she did it. The moment when she shared her true feelings for that boy, truly changed everything. They tried to play it off as if it being the heat of the moment, but neither of them could put the incident past them. The both of them wanted to go about their lives as if nothing had happened, but after weeks of trying to ignore it, the boy decided he would tell the girl his own feelings. He told her that he felt the same way. He thought it would be like the last time he liked a girl. She thought he liked her, she then liked him, and when she said she didn't anymore, he liked her. There was something more to it this time, though. This girl never stopped liking him. Five years she kept him in his heart. She liked him longer than his parents did. They left him when he was a baby, but she didn't. People could argue that his parents had no choice, that they had to save an entire race from suffering their demise. The thing is, by saving the lives of others, they ruined what could have been a happier life with their son. He never had to worry about this with Helga. She liked him since the first time she saw him. No matter what she did, or whatever his response to it was, she always liked him. But no, in a way, she didn't. She didn't like him at all. She liked her friend Phoebe. She liked the bow that he kept in her hair. She liked hitting Brainy. She did not like Arnol because, well, it was so much more than that. She loved him; the way she loved writing poetry, or how she loved it when her sister moved to Alaska. He made her so happy. Everyone else looked at her and immediately saw the bad. They called her a bully and constantly made fun of how she looked. He didn't. He never once made fun of her and knew that somewhere inside of her was a nice little girl crying to get out. That was why he finally gave her a chance.

The two of them dated for years. She didn't have to hide her kind side anymore. She could finally stop being the nasty bully that everyone seemed to know and she just became Helga. And the boy, he liked her even more. Helga wasn't afraid to be herself anymore. More importantly "Helga" had someone who "Helga" could talk to. With her best friend, Helga knew that if "Helga" didn't want to talk, "Helga" didn't have to. But the boy, he made her talk; he made sure that her mind was clear of troubles, because he couldn't live with her bottling up her anger anymore. All he wanted was to make sure that Helga was happy with herself, and more importantly, he wanted to make sure that Helga would never leave him. For a while talking to him made everything better. Helga realized although that bit made her feel better, it didn't change anything. Her father was still angry, her mother was still in rehab, her sister was still perfect, and through it all, he was still the only person to know that Helga existed. He took her out to many dinners and movies but in the end, Helga always had to go home. Helga always had to see her dad and realize that she had no real identity. She was never really Helga after all, she was Olga's sister. And that was all she would ever be. And her dad, well he never let her forget it:

"Hey Olga, is that friend of yours, what's his name Arthur, coming for dinner?"

"My name is Helga, dad, and no ARNOLD said it was his grandma's birthday today. So no, he won't be here. As I've told you."

"Hey, don't you sass me, little lady. You should be happy I even let you date Alfred."

"His name is ARNOLD, dad. And why is that?"

"Well, after that stunt Olga did with her old boyfriend, I am not gonna make the same mistake with you. Oh how I do miss your sister."

"I am not going to make the same mistake as Olga because if you haven't realized, I am not her. She was always called Olga by her father. She was surprised she even knew her own name. She had promised to come back for her stuff and the pain of coming back haunts her thoughts. The girl walks out of her house, but despite her promise, she doesn't come back. She never comes back, because from that moment on, the girl is never seen again. But she did get what she wanted, she was no longer just a she, because from that day forward everyone finally mourned the loss of Helga G. Pataki.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a crisp October afternoon when Arnold started making his way down the street. He kept his eyes glued to looking down as he felt the wind brush through his long blonde hair. He kept his hands inside his coat pockets holding on tight as if the wind was about to strip him of his warmth. It had been only a day since Helga had been found dead. He started thinking to himself that there was no way that it could've happened. He thought that he had finally found someone to be there for him, someone who would never leave him. But, alas, she did. She was gone. His only remaining love had disappeared, and it tore him apart. People came up to apoligize to him for his loss, more so than they did for her own parents. Still, he refused to listen to anyone as he was too busy replaying the phone call in his head, still in complete disbelief:

"Hello?" He had answered.

"Yes. Hello. Is this Arnold Shortman?" The voice had responded.

"Yes."

"We're very sorry that we have to make this call." The voice had said in such a voice that anyone could have predicted what news he was about to disclose.

"Wait. What? What happened?"

"It seems that your friend, well girlfriend, Helga Pataki has just…" Then the secret was out. He had always longed for a phone call confirming what he believed about his parents out demise, but never would he have imagined that Helga, his Helga, would be gone forever.

He remembered lifting the phone from his ear and he remembered falling to the floor, but after that his memory was blank. His grandmother had run over to him yelling that Kimba had fallen. She grabbed the phone, and even though everyone knew that she wasn't the most stable person, Pookie understood every word that was said and even she began crying. Arnold's grandparents had to help bring him to his feet just to get him to his room. When he was finally lying on his bed, he refused to do anything but stare into the sky as if looking for her.

Getting out of his bed to go for his walk was the first time he had left his room during the entire weekend, well, after the incident. He was truly alone this time. Many of his friends attempted to stop him or wave to him, but he wouldn't even glance their way. Only Gerald endeavored to walk next to him, following him to whatever destination he wanted to go to. He attempted to ensure that his best friend was alright. However, it didn't matter what Gerald tried to say, because Arnold wouldn't respond.

"He needs to snap out of it. I know they were dating but I mean c'mon. It's not exactly a tragedy." Rhonda said as she stared at her nails. "She was mean to everyone. i am just saying that maybe she got what was coming to her."

"On the contrary, I think it's ever so sad." Lila cried out. "Poor Arnold must be heartbroken."

"Who cares about mean Old Helga Pataki, anyway?" Harold suggested.

"Well, gosh I reckon she wasn't all that bad." Stinky commented.

Arnold hadn't heard a word of what his peers had said because quite frankly, he couldn't handle listening to anyone feel sorry for him. He didn't want to talk or listen to anyone. He didn't want to try getting his mind off of her. His parents had left him before he even knew what parents were. Sure he understood why they had left, but it didn't change the fact that they did. Sure people were dying and he understood that. What he didn't understand was how too seemingly nice people could look their baby boy in the eyes and tell him that they will be back soon even though they know that it's not a promise. He didn't understand why he came last in their life. He thought for sure that Helga would never leave him. He thought that he had finally found someone who could be with him forever. The thing about forever, though, it doesn't exactly exist. At some point everything has to end. Now was just her time. It wasn't his fault because there was nothing that he could do. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that it wasn't his fault, there was a bit of him that never believed it. There was always something that he could have done. He could have talked her through it. He could have asked her to go to his house that day. He could have done so much to keep her from leaving her house.

There's a small flaw in his plan, though. He didn't know it was going to happen. He didn't know that she had gotten into a fight with her dad or that she would ever think of trying to run away let alone jump in front of a moving city bus. There was nothing he could do to stop her. Arnold could see why Helga might go for a walk around the neighborhood, and that he would see her later sitting on a park bench writing in one of her little journals. There was never a single thought that entered his mind that could compare with having to see her lying hopeless in the street or then being sent to the emergency room in an ambulance, knowing that there was no hope left. The worst part was, he wasn't even there to hold her hand through it. He had seen it live on TV. See, after he was able to get a bit of personal recovery after the phone call, he turned on the television. It took him barely a minute to decide to shut the TV back off and run straight to the hospital.

When he was there he asked the nurse where Helga G Pataki was. He went into her room and if weren't for seeing her parents and sister by her bed, he would not have known it was her. The gashes in her face were wrapped as well as they could be but her whole facial structure had been distorted and all but one hand was wrapped as well as it could be. Wires stuck out from either side of her body and the heart monitor was beeping faster and then slower, gaining and reducing it's speed. As soon as he entered the hospital room, his head started to hurt and he remembered a dream he had, with him as a baby. He is crawling around calling out names but instead of mommy and daddy he's crying out for Helga. He turns into a toddler, seeing her on their first day, her clothes covered in mud. Then he sees her kicking things. His mind forwards into fourth grade, their first kiss, her confession, and his denial of a future marriage. Then he sees just her, calling him names, Football head, geek bait, Arnoldo, and every once in a while she calls him by his real name. "Arnold…ARnold…ARNold…ARNOld…ARNOLd…ARNOLD! Hey Arnold, are you okay."

"What, huh." Arnold says as he comes to. At first he had suspected to see himself in his room at home; that he would be able to pick up his phone and call Helga to ask if she was okay and to tell her that he loved her, hoping to have gone back in time and saved her. But when he looks around he sees that he may never be able to do that again. He runs to her bedside and grabs her clean, unwrapped hand. He whispers the words "I love you. Don't leave me. You're a strong girl Helga. You can make it through this." In some cases a little white lie can make things better in the long run. It can make someone feel good, it can save someone from a harmful truth, it can bring hope, but it cannot bring miracles. He whispers that he loves her again and that he always will. Her heartbeat slows into a single beeping sound and he knows that he will never hear the words "I love you too" ever again.

**Sorry about the grammatical errors. I have been busy but I really want this chapter to be posted today but don't worry, I will fix them.**


	3. Chapter 3

Helga lying down, cold, her skin pale as the moon and her eyes shut, that is all that Arnold sees. The one perfection in his life being carried to a crypt that is all he knows. His love being gone and her kiss being forbidden, that is all of his cares. The thought of holding her close to him, just one last time that is all he hopes. To have her with him and plan out their life and wishes together, that is all he wants. It wasn't her turn, and it's just not fair. But life, it doesn't matter what is fair or what people want or dream for because in the end the only thing that matters is what we take away from it. That doesn't stop Arnold from dreaming. He sees her beautiful blonde hair held together by a signature pink ribbon. He sees her imperfections as nothing more than things for other girls to envy. He sees how she is inside and looks through her tough exterior and sees her pure soul. He sees their memories together. He sees the only girl he ever loved with her arms placed against her chest holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers, creating the most beautiful tragedy in his mind. He's sees the girl that no one knew existed. He sees the only thing keeping him truly alive. And he sees her disappear from his life. He sees himself in a mirror, but not for long when the tears start to blur his vision.

Arnold angrily rips off his tie and throws it to the ground. He sits back and takes a pink ribbon from his pocket. He gets up and walks over to his desk. On the desk there is a picture frame encasing the photo of them from the back, sitting on a swing and looking out at a lake. Her head rests on his shoulder and his head rests on hers. The sunset showing off the idea that everything really does have an ending. Arnold takes the bow and he places it gently over the frame and backs away knowing that if anything were to happen to that little pink fabric, he would never forgive himself. He lets out a loud yell, glad that everyone knows not to disturb him. Still , within second, he hears a knock on his door and opens it. His grandmother offers him some dinner and he takes it to be polite. He wants to eat, he really does, but he can't. It seems like his hunger went on a vacation with his heart.

Fast forward where Arnold walks down the street. Finally he sees it "Madame Blanche's Love Potions" which has recently been renamed to "Madame Blanche's Love Potions and Other Magic." He walks in with only one thing on his mind. She asks him if he needs help finding something but he assures her that he knows exactly what he needs and can find it on his own. After about ten minutes he finds it sitting on one of the bottom shelves and he pays fifteen dollars for it. The cashier, an apprentice of Madame Blanche carefully wraps the item and places it in a branded paper bag. He walks out holding the bag in his hand and heads down the street. Again, he sees people walking past him but he doesn't stop until he sees Gerald and Sid.

"Hey Arnold!" Sid calls out. Gerald tries to tell him that Arnold still isn't talking to anyone, but for once Arnold actually does stop.

He attempts to hide the bag behind himself as he responds, "I was wondering if you guys could come over to my house later. Gerald, you can bring Phoebe."

"Can I bring Rhonda?" Sid asks and Arnold only nods. Sid smiles and immediately takes out his phone, happy to have a reason to hang out with his hopeful girlfriend, Rhonda Wellington Lloyd.

After that Arnold goes home ignoring the stares he gets from just about everyone else he passes. When he gets the boarding house he gets permission to have friends over with no limitations on how many; his grandparents' sympathy finally at his advantage. He then goes to his room and he straightens it up for the first time that week. He puts his bag down and he feels a cold air circle around him and he knows exactly what it is. It has nothing to do with wind or fans that would be silly. He knows that Helga is looking after him now. He laughs when he realizes that she always was watching him. She was always meant to be his guardian angel. He reaches out his hand in an attempt to touch her and he feels the cold sheathe his hand and he smiles through his tears. "Thank you, Helga. I knew you wouldn't leave me."

He hears a whisper but it is too quiet for him to possibly understand. He knows that it would be better to just forget about her and move on with his life. He knows deep down that longing after her will only cause him more harm. Unfortunately he is too afraid to look deep down because he thinks if he looks too deep then he will forget about her. They say an idea exists until people forget about it and stop believing. In Peter Pan, Tinkerbell could have died but what saves her is that everyone chimes in to let her know that they do believe in her and as soon as someone doesn't believe in fairies, a fairy dies. Arnold couldn't stop believing that Helga was there because if he did, the simple idea of her would be dead and gone. He couldn't do that to her. He truly loved her more than anyone could ever know. He thinks back and he sees her once again. He hears her laughter and he sees her lean closer to him but when he hears the doorbell, she vanishes.

**Sorry, I know I promised happiness and I will keep that promise, don't worry. This chapter just felt really important to me so I am using it, but I will try my best to make it happier for you all. ****J**


	4. Chapter 4

The room was cold. Everyone could feel it. Not like a cold morning of waiting at the bus stop, or being forced to go outside for gym class when there's clearly snow on the ground, but an unnatural cold. Every possible entrance to the outside world was blocked off, so there was no way that wind could find its way in. Arnold himself did not own a fan. The only light in the room was from the hundreds of little candles lit around his room. One could have thought that they'd bring off a least a little heat, but that was definitely not the case here. The four visitors, Sid, Gerald, Rhonda, and Phoebe were huddled close together and staring at Arnold. No one wanted to speak, afraid to say the wrong words. Instead they stared at him, waiting to say something, but he only sat there looking at his hands.

It was Sid who finally spoke. "So…uh, Arnold, y-you said that we sh-should come over and uh, care to e-explain wh-why." Sid said shivering.

"It's a bit difficult. There is something that I really need to do but I need your help." Arnold said. Everyone in the room could see that he was acting strange, after all he didn't really even sound like himself. Arnold reaches behind himself and he grabs a paper bag from Madame Blanche's.

"Yo, Arnold, what's in the bag?"

"I know it's a bit strange, but I got this." Arnold said as he pulled out a box. He blew the dust off of it which made it clear that the box portrayed the letters O-U-I-J-A. Immediately everyone was in shock. Although they had heard the stories, they never imagined that they would see one., let alone use one.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Arnold you didn't!"

"That's why we're here?"

"What is it?"

"It's a Ouija board, to contact spirits."

"Arnold, man, why did you get that? You know those things are dangerous."

"What is a Ouija board? Why is it dangerous?"

"The Ouija board is a dangerous object, only used once in Hillsdale, until a guy disappeared. It is a story that has been passed on from kid generation to kid generation. Our own Gerald is the keeper of the tale, of course."

"The story of the Ouija board dates back over a hundred years. Ouija, an Egyptian word for Good Luck was given to a board that had the Alphabet, numbers 1-10, and the words: yes, no, and goodbye on it. It was originally meant to be a toy but after it was revealed to actually contact spirits, it became less popular. Well, unless you're a ghost hunter. Anyway, some years ago, these two girls Kayleigh and Molly Fenton were sitting at home when they contacted the ghost of some merchant that had died years back. At first, no one believed them, until the ghost decided to come and seek his revenge on the town. People were injured left and right by freak occurrences. The boards were banned from town. Some people actually started to believe in ghosts, others thought that it was just a bunch of teenage pranks. But no one could doubt that there could be a chance for actual spirits to answer the calls…of the Ouija board."

The four of them clapped as Gerald bowed. No one could say that he was not a good story teller, but still his tale only increased the nervousness in the room. Gerald, Rhonda, and Sid started to argue about the validity of the board while Arnold and Phoebe held back. Arnold turned to Phoebe, knowing that she was practically the logic queen and he asked her what she thought.

"Well, I believe that there is a possibility that ghosts do exist. Although it is clear that the idea of them is farfetched, I have confidence that there are some true ghost stories. As to whether I believe the Automatism or the Spiritualist theory, well I can conclude that it may just be a mixture of both. It really just depends on the entity."

"So you think this may actually work?"

"Considering the extreme decrease in temperature in your room and the case of recent events, I think it is very likely that the board could work, especially given the circumstances of your desperation."

Everyone calmed down after hearing Phoebe's personal theory and they just assumed that she was correct. Arnold reached for the box and he took the board out. He examined it a bit before putting it on a table that he had brought up to his room. The board itself was an old brownish color, the word Yes was found next to a picture of a sun, and the word no was by a crescent moon. The letters and numbers were written in a very old and somewhat spooky kind of font. The planchette that it came with was in the shape of a heart. Arnold ushered everyone over to sit in their chairs, except for Rhonda who was left without one. Not wanting to interrupt and talk to ghosts, anyway, she decided to sit on Arnold's bed.

"Tell me if you find anything." Rhonda laughed as she walked over to the bed.

The other four, once seated, started looking for directions. They were found taped to the inside of the box. The only real directions were that everyone place their index and middle fingers from both hands on the planchette. All questions had to be asked clearly and politely, starting with the question, "Is anyone there."

There was no answer and everyone began to shift in their seats a bit, their suspicions growing deeper. "Well it does say that it could take one to five minutes." Arnold coughed and again asked "Is anyone there?"

After slight hesitation, the planchette started to move towards the sun:

YES.


	5. Chapter 5

**Are people upset about the idea of adding the Ouija board into this, because if they are then I can always change it? I have other ideas. I am in the middle of writing this chapter but I kinda want to hear some feedback before I keep going, just in case. Check back for updates because I am constantly updating this chapter.**

The nervousness in the room was palpable. Everyone in the room immediately released their hands from the top of the planchette besides Arnold. He didn't care what could happen or what did happen because all he did care about was finding her. He wanted to make sure that even though she couldn't be saved, she was still ok. Arnold convinced everyone to put their fingers back on the planchette as he asked the spirit "Who are you?"

The wooden heart moved to a F. It took a couple of seconds until it finally reached an R-A-N-K. Arnold immediately started to slouch, upset that it was not who he had expected. He asked the spirit if he knew where Helga was. The ghost said "S-h-e-i-s-h-e-r-e". Immediately Arnold asked if he could speak to her. When the planchette started making its way to the spot that said "No", Arnold tried to put his own strength into moving it to "yes".

"Arnold. Stop. You can't manipulate it like that!" Phoebe demanded.

Arnold's eyes swell up with tears as he asks the spirit why he can't talk to her. He spells out the word "U-p-s-e-t." and Arnold sighs knowingly.

"Well, of course she's upset, man. She just died." Gerald yells.

"Please Helga." Arnold says looking up. The heart moves to goodbye and the four of them lean back upset. No one takes his fingers off though, not knowing what could happen next. Sure enough, it starts to move. It moves much slower than "Frank", but as everyone gets into it the heart moves faster and faster until it spells out "F-o-o-t-b-a-l-l-h-e-a-d". Arnold laughs through his tears as he raises his hand to wipe them away. "Are you okay?" Arnold asks. "I-am-dead" Arnold looks down in despair, realizing his mistake. "What is it like?" Phoebe asks. "c-o-l-d-b-u-t-l-i-g-h-t."

"Did you really jump in front of that bus?" The planchette hesitates but then starts to move "M-d-m-b-l-a-n-c-h-e."

"Madame Blanche. What does she have to do with anything?" Phoebe asks.

"2-s-h-e-l-f."

Everyone around the board starts freaking out, wondering if maybe it really is Helga that keeps moving the planchette and trying to figure out just what she meant. Meanwhile, Rhonda snickers on top of Arnold's bed. Sid looks over at her and asks her why she was laughing. "You guys really believe this thing? I mean it's obviously a trick."

"How could you possibly know that? You're across the room."

The planchette moves faster and spells out "S-h-u-t-u-p-p-r-i-n-c-e-s-s."

"Oh yeah, like that proves anything." Rhonda sneers. "Anyone of you could have moved that. Everyone knows that she used to call me princess."

"If you don't believe us, Rhonda, you can come and try it out for yourself." Gerald immediately walks away from the table, giving Rhonda a place to sit. She sarcastically places her manicured fingers on top of the heart. She rolls her eyes and challenges the board to do its worse.

"I-k-n-o-w-u-r-s-e-c-r-t-s."

"Really, so who was the last person I texted?"

"l-i-l-a."

"Someone could have checked." Rhonda clarifies. "Okay what did my mom say to me last night before going to bed."

"s-h-e-w-a-s-n-t-h-o-m-e"

"Oh whatever, someone could have checked."

"Give it up Rhonda. You're gonna find some excuse no matter what you ask. Can we move on?"

The planchette starts to answer for her as it reaches the moon and slowly heads down towards goodbye. "Wait, Helga, No!."

The heart stops moving and everyone stares as it again starts to move upwards onto the sun.

"I just don't want you to leave again."

"M-d-m-b-l-a-n-c-h-e" The heart starts again "2-s-h-e-l-f" and then finally, "GOODBYE."

The heart becomes immobile no matter how many questions Arnold tries to ask. Eventually he reaches Frank again, but they force the planchette to say GOODBYE and they walk away from the table.

"Okay guys," Sid says. "Let's all promise to never use one of those things ever again."

Everyone but Arnold verbally agrees. Since they are all shook up, however, no one seems to notice. After watching his friends leave, Arnold takes out a piece of paper and writes down Helga's clue. He has no idea what to look for but that wont stop him from looking anyway. As he's writing the clues down he starts hearing a scratching noise coming from the Ouija board. The candles in his room start going out one by one. All of a sudden his entire room goes dark with the exception of one candle on the otherside of his bed. He goes to grab it but before he can take two steps, he sees it moving towards him. Within the smoke coming from the small flame, he sees an undecipherable face. The candle falls onto the table clearly lighting the entire board. When he looks at it he sees letters carving themselves into the wood. He doesn't see them for long because after about ten seconds the Ouija board is caught into flames and two little white lights burst out from it. When he is able to turn on the lights, the board is gone and has been turned into ash. He still sees the last message playing in his head.


	6. Chapter 6

Arnold runs out of his room and finds a vacant room to sleep in for the night. He soon realizes that there is absolutely no way that he is going to sleep tonight. He wonders what he will be telling his grandpa the next day. He immediately turns on every light that he can find. He slowly pulls the bed down. He examines the room slowly and carefully before finally deciding to get into the bed. He sighs in relief as he realizes that there is a television in the room. He turns on old cartoons. The ones' that he used to watch when he was little but were ultimately canceled. He tries every tactic that he can think of to try and erase his memory and conscious. He eventually falls asleep but his only dream is of Helga. When he does wake up, he is too afraid to enter his own room to change, so he walks into the kitchen and eats breakfast in his pajamas. No one comments because it's not much of an abnormality this early in the morning (he didn't sleep for more than an hour last night). After he has finished eating, Arnold runs out of the house without changing. He gets many glances from wandering strangers down the street, but he doesn't even notice. He gets to Madame Blanche and swings open the door. Sweat drips down his face as he rushes to look at the second shelves on every wall. It's then when he realizes that he was never old if it was the second from the top or second from the bottom.

"Hey," calls Madame Blanches assistant. "Do you need help finding something?"

"Well. I don't really know what I am looking for."

"Describe your situation." She says as she walks over and crawls next to wear he is crouched down. "Maybe I can suggest something."

Arnold explains the entire Ouija board situation to her. He gulps hard before he tells her about the final part. About how the candle floated over and burned the board and the three words that he had seen right before they were turned to ash. "She gave me two hints. One: Madam Blanche and two: she said "two shelf". So my guess is that she meant the second shelf."

"Who is she?"

"My ex-girlfriend. She died a couple days ago."

"Well I can't tell you exactly what she wants you to buy but I think the shelf that she meant is over here. If you want my opinion though, I think you should move on. Pining over a girl who died isn't going to do you any good. Since I can't tell you how to live your life, though, what you're probably looking for is right here." The assistant points Arnold over to a shelf in the far corner of the store by cash register. Arnold walks over and remembers that he forgot to change. He shrugs and looks anyway. The first thing he sees is a pair of glasses. They look like normal sunglasses but the caption on the card below it says that they help people to see spirits and are, in fact, a creation of Madame Blanche, herself.

Arnold brings the glasses up to the counter and he pays for them with some money he had taken from a secret stash hidden underneath the phone. The assistant gives him a concerned look but she still checks him out. He takes the bag home, walking this time, and he put the glasses on his face. The boarders as well as his grandparents all look at him strangely, they decide not to question him but every one of them can see that he is not quite well. Slowly, Arnold pulls down the ladder and he starts to crawl up. He gets into his room to see that everything is back to normal. He remembers that he never called Gerald to tell him about last night. He picks up his cell phone and he types in Gerald's number. He moves his glasses to the top of his head. Gerald picks up on the first ring and before he has the chance to say anything, Arnold is telling him the story about the burning board, the carved in letters, and the magical sunglasses.

"Arnold, did you get any sleep last night?" Gerald asks. "I'm serious, man, you're starting to scare me lately. Not just me, but like Sid and the gang: Everyone. Maybe you just need to rest or something."

Arnold hangs up the phone and he looks around his room again. Everything looks normal to him. The table, still covered with ash, remains standing in the middle of the room with the four chairs pulled out from its sides. His bed is still made with the exception of one blanket which Rhonda had wrapped herself in when she was cold the night before. His couch is down from the wall, his remote sitting on it. He looked around and could not for the life of him see one single difference. Then he went over to his desk. He saw a picture of Helga and him sitting together by a sunset. What he didn't see was Helga's pink bow resting along the top of the picture. He searched around his desk and even around his entire room, still he finds nothing. A knock comes from inside of the walls. He looks to his left where he expects the sound is coming from. He puts on his glasses again and he sees a figure moving closer. As his eyes begin to adjust to the glasses, the figure becomes clearer and clearer. He realizes that there are two figures now, a boy and a girl. They are holding hands but the boy has to let her hand go to let her be free, but as soon as he does, the girl leaves him. The figures come closer and they appear clearer, but before Arnold can fully see their faces, he faints.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Arnold wakes up on his bed, his covers up to his shoulders. He pushes aside the event that had happened the day before, suspecting that they were just part of his dream. He looks down at his pajamas and realizes that he cannot remember putting them on. He looks through his roof to see rain pouring down above his head. His whole room is dark, or at least that's what he thought. When he looks around at first he sees nothing. He then remembers his special glasses and checks to see if they make a difference. Luckily the glasses are right next to his bed. After putting them on, he sees a white figure sitting on his couch. He tries to remember yesterday and what he thought he had seen. There were two figures but now there was only one. He cowers behind his blanket, afraid to see what it is. He calls out to it, wondering if perhaps it is some sort of living being. The object disappears and Arnold is once again alone in his room. He quickly removes the glasses from his face and tosses them on the floor. He stands up and gets dressed as quickly as he can, not wanting to be seen by what/whoever was in his room.

Arnold goes over to the door so that he can eat breakfast. When he touches the door handle he notices that it is ice cold and won't budge no matter how hard he tries to turn it open. He steps back a few feet and tries to find something to create friction and heat so he won't be locked out by a frozen handle. Every attempt he makes, nonetheless, is unsuccessful and he even believes that the handle has been getting even colder. He puts the glasses back on his face and he sees a white shadow in front of the door. Once again his eyes have to focus themselves in order see the shadow clearly. When he finally sees it, he recognizes it as a girl. She's wearing a white dress and her hair is in pigtails that seem to practically stick out from the sides of her head. On the top of her head there is a bow. Arnold's eyes start to water and he fears that it is all part of an illusion. He screams to try and wake himself up but it doesn't work. He feels a cold wind brush quickly against his face.

"Fbld." Her voice whispers. Although she is able to be in Arnold's world again, her voice has not yet recovered from the trauma of her death. Although Helga would not be able to live again, the board sending off her spirit did give her a way to speak and be seen by special members of the living. The only special living human in Helga's life was Arnold. She didn't want her mom or her dad to see her because she didn't want them to pretend as though they missed her. All she wanted was to see her love, and to dance with him and show him that it was all going to be alright.

"What?" Arnold asks, still in shock that she could make any sound whatsoever.

"I said." Her voice calls out louder. "Football head!"

Although to the normal ear, her voice was only a whisper, in her own dimension, she was screaming as loud as she could.

"Helga?" Arnold asks as he puts out his hand. "Is that you?"

The ghost nods her head and smiles afraid that she may ruin her voice and never talk to him again. Arnold wipes away his tears and goes to try and wrap his arms around her. He realizes that since she is nothing more than a ghost with no matter, he will just go through her, so he puts his arms back down. That doesn't stop her because it takes her no time at all to hold him in a similar embrace. Arnold realizes that he can finally feel her again. Helga tells Arnold to shut his eyes. She grabs his hand and drags him to the middle of the room and she turns on some music. She grabs his arms and leads him into a slow dance. Helga presses a button on the left side of his glasses and tells him to open his eyes. When he does, he sees only her. Not as a white ghost, but as a real person with rosy cheeks and beautiful blonde hair. The rest of the room is black but with enough light so that he can see. He sees the two of them slow dancing and he smiles, figuring that even if it was a dream, it was a damn good one. When they finished dancing, Helga took his head in hers and she kissed him. Arnold hesitated to kiss back, afraid that she may just disappear, but in the heat of the moment, he gives in. It was like she had never died and they were just picking up where they had left off. He runs his fingers through her silky thin hair. Everything about her looks fragile, but he knows that's not true.

"Is this a dream?" Arnold asks. Helga bits her lip and shakes her head.

"How are you here?" Arnold asks jokingly. He likes that, being able to joke and laugh again.

He reads Helga's lips because her voice is too quiet to hear. With every word, however, her voice got a little bit louder and more powerful. "When we burnt the Ouija board, our spirits were able to roam the Earth. Burning the board unleashed our souls. That is why I did it; to be here with you. There was something that you had said to me right before I died that I never got to reply to."

Arnold's memory draws a blank. "What is it Helga?"

She keeps her smile on her face as she looks into his eyes, "I love you Arnold."


	8. Chapter 8

There is a knock at the door. A voice calls out to make sure that he is okay. Helga disappears and Arnold throws the glasses on his bed. He opens the door to reassure his grandfather that he was not talking to himself. His grandfather turns the lights on in the room and asks Arnold if he plans on going to school today. After taking a quick look around the room and smiles, telling his grandfather that he definitely plans on going back. Phil leaves and Arnold shuts the door in order to get ready. After he is dressed he looks up at the stormy sky and grins. When he gets to the door he sees Helga. He feels his face but he realizes that he is not wearing the glasses anymore.

"How can I see you?" Arnold asks, completely dumbstruck.

"Because. The glasses are only there to help you. Once you believe in ghosts, then you can see me. It's like Santa Claus. He only comes if you believe, Arnoldo." Helga says in a monotone voice.

"So I'll be able to see you no matter what." Arnold asks hopefully.

"Unless you stop believing or you move on." Helga answers. "Which I know should be impossible for you."

"See, Helga, sometimes dreams really can come true."

Helga smiles as she ushers Arnold out of the door. Once he is gone she sits on his bed. She knows that there is no way that their dreams could come true. After all, they planned on owning a house, having kids, and always being together. There was no way that they could fulfill their dreams together; she knew that eventually they both had to move on. She just never realized that it would happen and that it was going to be so hard.

At school that day, everyone in class tries hard not to step on any of Arnold's bad nerves. Everyone is relieved to see that Arnold has come back to school in such high spirits but everyone that asks why can't help but run away to a safe place to laugh. When one person laughs, several others ask why. Soon enough everyone knows about Helga haunting Arnold.

"She never did leave him alone when she was alive. It's no wonder she won't leave him alone now." One person says.

"Haha. You seriously believe it?" Asks another. "If you ask me, the boy is just suffering from delusions probably due to post-traumatic stress disorder."

"That or he's just crazy." Replies the first.

In the end, not even Gerald believes him. Arnold becomes upset again and he excuses himself to the bathroom. When he is in there, he throws water in his face. He looks up to see Helga in his mirror, staring at him sorrowfully. He turns around and she's still there.

"Helga, no one believes me." Arnold says as he looks through her translucent white form to the dark blue tiles on the wall.

"Do you actually expect high school kids to think that a ghost exists? I mean c'mon, Football head, high schoolers barely believe in anything anymore. I mean unless they're under the influence or something." Helga laughs.

Arnold turns back to the sink where he throws more water at his face. He looks at himself in the mirror. "I just thought that maybe they would be more accepting of it. I mean, I have always been there for them."

"Oh I know. Sid can feel free to think that Stinky is a vampire, but not that you can speak to ghosts. What geeks." Helga says angrily.

"I wish that they would believe me, Helga." Arnold complains.

"Man, who are you talking to?" Gerald says as he walks further into the room. Arnold quickly looks up at him and explains that it doesn't matter who, because Gerald wouldn't believe him anyway. "Arnold, you have got to let this Helga thing go, man. She is gone and she's not coming back."

"I don't care that you don't believe me because I know that it's true." Arnold yells as he walks to the door. "Helga is here, and as long as I believe in her, she will always be here for me."

"You know that I have always been there for you for all of your crazy plans, but this time, you have gone too far." Gerald says.

Arnold walks out of the room and heads back to class, he never thought that he would live to see the day when he and Gerald would ever disagree about anything. He storms back to class where he is again ridiculed by all twenty kids. Unlucky for Arnold, it was study hall. All throughout class every student has something to say to him. Harold decides to just walk up to him and start laughing and pointing while he chants that Arnold has a ghost girlfriend over and over again.

"Okay Harold." Arnold says. "You can stop now."

Although practically the whole class is sick of listening to the taunts, no one can stop.

"Guys, I saw her. I honestly and truly saw her. We spoke and we danced. I'm sorry if you don't believe me, but it's true." Arnold says loudly. The class is momentarily quiet, taking in what Arnold has claimed. After less than a minute Harold starts to laugh loudly, and soon enough, the entire class joins in.

"Yeah right, Arnold, as if anyone could really believe any of that. The Ouija board was a fluke and you know it. No one could possibly believe that you were able to dance and speak to her." Rhonda sneers.

The class roars into more laughter. One person, however, whistles loudly, grabbing everyone's attention. "Wait. Guys stop! I believe him!"


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone silences around the music room. They see her standing on a chair in the corner yelling out for everyone to stop doubting Arnold. Happy to see that she has grabbed everyone's attention, Lila steps down. She walks over to Arnold and grabs his hand. He stares up at her in complete amazement but does not let go. No one has shown him even the slightest bit of sympathy today because they were all too busy laughing at him. Now that someone had finally let it known that they did not think he was crazy, he was not going to let them slip away. Rhonda walks over and stands with her hands on her hips. The rest of the class stares with anticipation, they close in around the three of them (the teacher isn't in the room).

"How can you possible believe that a ghost can actually haunt people and be here right now?" Rhonda laughs. The rest of the class laughs with her, not wanting to get on her bad side. In this school, Rhonda is the queen. Either you are on her side and on the cool list or you're committing social suicide by trying to disagree with her.

Lila stares straight at her wanting to say something but not being able to make out the words. She looks down, shifts her feet, and looks back up. "Well, when I was in fourth grade, before I moved, my mother had passed away. I was really sad to begin with but then I went through the same thing as Arnold. One night before I went to sleep, I'm ever so certain that I saw my mother looking at me across my bed, telling me that it would be okay, and to watch over my dad."

Only Rhonda laughs but she does it loudly. A couple of others join in weakly but no one actually thinks there is anything funny about it. "C'mon, Lila, you actually expect me to believe that?"

"Well yeah, we are friends and I'm ever so sure that friends should believe each other." Lila says.

"There is nothing that you can say to make me believe that ghosts are real." Rhonda says as she looks over what she believes to be a crowd. She tries to convince them that she is right and a couple of people agree. The others don't want to be insensitive to Lila after what she had admitted.

Arnold stands up, still holding Lila's hand. "Rhonda you were there, you saw us with the board."

"I still don't believe that it works." Rhonda laughs as she crosses her hands.

"The board definitely worked." Sid comments nervously.

"What board?" Someone asks from the crowd.

"Arnold bought the Ouija board from Madame Blanche's." Sid replies as the whole room gasps. People everywhere make comments about how Ouija boards are evil and can let evil spirits loose. Then others start making connections, saying that Helga is an evil spirit that found its way out of the board.

"Wait are you guys saying that you actually believe him." Rhonda asks.

"I don't know, maybe we just shouldn't jump to conclusions about it."

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GHOSTS." Rhonda yells.

Across the room one of the markers from the white board flies out at Rhonda and she screams. Sid asks her if she believes it now.

"Simple, the marker was attached to a string and someone pulled it, classic prank." Rhonda rationalizes.

Sid picks up the marker and holds it up. "Uh, Rhonda, there is no string."

"Simple. It fell off."

Everyone begins another uproar trying to convince themselves and Rhonda that Helga really is in the room. Rhonda asks them to consider what they are saying and telling them that they are completely crazy. At this point the class is split, some kids believing that ghosts do exist and others who think life after death is completely irrational.

The study hall teacher walks into the room and four people simultaneously ask him whether or not ghosts exist.

"I am just a music teacher." He says. He grabs some papers and leaves quickly saying to his self that the school needs a new psychologist.

"Great, Rhonda, you scared away Mr. Silver." Sid says. At this point in time most of the class has dispersed around the classroom talking amongst themselves, leaving only Sid, Rhonda, Lila, and Arnold to keep the subject going.

"I'm just ever so certain that Arnold wouldn't make up something like this." Lila says again.

"Well, he would if he was CRAZY. Maybe this whole thing has made him go mad. He isn't in his right mind. Next thing you know he will be on a rampage and killing us all to be his imaginary friends or 'ghosts." Sid freaks out.

"Sit down, Sid." Arnold says as nicely as possible. Sid complies. He looks around the room, knowing that she is there somewhere. When he sees her, he smiles to himself and then to his friends, knowing that he will finally be able to prove them wrong. "I am telling you guys, she is real. And she is here. I can see her, right behind the piano."

Rhonda, Lila, and Sid look over to the piano to see nothing but a wall. Lila walks away starting to doubt her belief (class was ending soon anyway). Sid looks at the clock and begins packing his stuff up too. Rhonda is the only one who stays. She walks closer to him and puts a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Arnold, I am saying this as a friend, you have completely lost it."


	10. Chapter 10

A week passes and still, nothing gets better. Arnold sits alone during all of his classes. At lunch everyone sits at their regular people-filled tables but Arnold sits across from an empty seat, Helga's seat. He reaches across the table and grabs her cold hand. He barely touches his food when Lila walks over and sits in the empty seat. She smiles at him but he only glances quickly at her. Years upon years, Arnold has worked up his reputation as the good guy that people can rely on if they need help. As soon as he needed help from someone, they turn on him. He's not himself lately, that's a fact, but that was no reason for his friends to just turn on him all of a sudden. He wished that he could just wake up, that everything would just be a long and tiring dream. He looks out and he sees a hand wave in front of his face. He blinks a few times and looks at her. He looks back down at his food and plays with his mashed potatoes.

"I'm ever so sorry, Arnold." Lila says, grabbing his arm.

"Why did you lie, Lila?" Arnold asks, hurt.

"I didn't lie. I didn't see her."

"She told me that if you believed in the ghosts of people that you were close to in life, you would be able to see them."

Lila takes her hand off of his and she looks into his eyes. "I think I stopped believing in them. After a small time I was unable to see my mom anymore. I'm certain that I was just ever so devastated. As I grew up, I kind of thought that maybe they were just dreams. I am ever so sure that I thought that maybe I was making myself think that she was watching over me."

"If you weren't sure than why did you say anything at all?"

"I thought that you needed a friend." Lila said retaking his hand in hers. Arnold knew that she was right, when no one believed him, he had no one. Whether or not ghosts may be real, people shouldn't bash on others for their beliefs. Although he did not know it when they were younger, Helga was the one who had been there for him the most. She was not all that nice to him, but she was there and she did care about him. She was just never good at showing it. Everyone else depended on him to fix their problems and called him crazy when he had to fix his own. He was there for Harold when Harold got a suspension, when Gerald decided to move out, when Rhonda wanted to look cool even though she was poor, when Helga could not take her family anymore, and when Sid went through his many paranoid phases. But when Arnold wanted to find his favorite author, who was there for him? He went alone and everyone told him to just switch subjects. Arnold does not give up on things as easily as everyone else. That is what made it so hard for him to move on.

"Well thanks Lila, but you don't need to isolate yourself for me."

"Okay, but remember, I'm here if you need anything." Lila says as she starts to pick up her stuff and leave.

Arnold stops her. "Wait. Lila. Why don't you have lunch with me?"

Lila turns back and grins. "I am ever so sure that I would love to."

Helga floats next to them. She feels a rip in her heart and she realizes that her transparent little heart is breaking. A tear falls from her eye and she becomes angry. It takes all of her ghostly strength not to try and rip out Lila's ponytail. She glides over the table and next to Arnold. She sees the smile on his face, the same one that he had reserved only for her. It is the first time since she had died that she saw him show actual happiness for anything. Of course, she hates Lila, but she loves Arnold. She reminds herself of a saying "when you love someone, you have to let them go." Or at least it went something like that. She realizes then that no matter how much she didn't want to let him go, there is no way that they can be together. It is time to let Arnold live his own life now.


	11. Chapter 11

Arnold's lights are turned off in his room as he sleeps domfortably through the night. All the while, Helga's spirit is trapped in limbo; her soul unable to pass on. There were no words to describe how she felt when she found out that she would be able to see Arnold again. She was so filled with joy at the thought that she could possibly talk to him and still be with him even under the terrible circumstances. She expected that she would be able to come back and act as if everything was just normal. She thought that maybe he would ask her questions about what it was like, how she was doing. She realized that coming back was nothing as she expected. She had to survive weeks floating around and watching him. She was never able to hold his hand or talk to him. Seeing him cry, watching as he slowly isolated himself from all his friends, that was the only thing Helga was able to do. She had finally been able to get into his head and convince him to get the Ouija board. She didn't know how she did but somehow it had worked out. With the help of Bartholomew, or as he had called himself, Frank (well I mean it is shorter to write out), Helga was able to release herself into a more present sort of limbo. In other words, she could move objects and be seen by select people. She was finally able to relive her dreams. She was able to dance with him, and to tell him that she loved him too. She thought that it would be easy. She thought that maybe it would make everything okay, but she realized that she was wrong. It made her transparent chest hurt. She knew then that she would never be happy with him. She would never be there for him. He had his own life to live now. When Helga saw him, with Lila, she could tell that he would never be happy if she didn't force him to move on.

Arnold is sleeping now as Helga watches over him. The good thing about being a ghost, you never get tired; the bad thing, well everyone else does. She goes to his desk and she signs on to a social network. She spends the night stalking her friends to see what they've been up to. After all, she kind of wants to know who still misses her.

A couple of streets down, Rhonda cannot fall asleep. She walks over to her own desk and boots up her laptop. She opens up Facebook and checks to see if there is anyone still awake to talk to. She opens up chat and she scrolls down the list of names. Only about twenty people are online. When searching through, she sees that somehow Helga is online. She clicks on the name and she sends a message: "Hey."

After a couple minutes of no response she sends another message: "Who is this?"

"Who do you think?" Helga types back.

"This isn't funny. Get off of Helga's page. Just because she's dead does not mean you can snoop around her stuff."

"Aw. Princess, I always knew that you cared."

Shivers run up Rhonda's spine as she reads the message, her shaking hands typing back: "I'm serious, if you don't get off her page right now, I will call the authorities to get you off."

"I'd like to see you try." Helga types. She does, however agree and logs off. She doesn't want anything to happen to Arnold, after all she was using his computer.

She floats around some more. She thinks more about life. She thinks of her parents and her sister and how they all drove her insane. She thinks about the truck and whether or not she actually did jump in front of it. She thinks about the pain she tried to conceal and the fight to try and survive. She had to give up, though; she knew it and she hoped that maybe the others did too. She thinks about the end. When the pain finally stopped and she felt free, she thought about another kind of pain, one that resonated in her heart. She was separated from Arnold. She could play games and talk to him but what good could that do. She was separating him from living beings. In a few years he would be in a mental institution with no one left to visit him or worse, he would realize that he couldn't be with her unless he took his own life. She knew that the same could happen if she just disappeared. She needed to find a way to show him that he could live without her. She could not bear to cause him any more pain that she already had.


End file.
